Electronic device and method for processing letter input in electronic device

ABSTRACT

A method for processing a letter input in an electronic device is provided. The method includes, if at least one letter is input, determining at least one input behavior related to the input and if a predetermined delimiter is input, determining whether to disable a function of automatically recommending at least one word similar to an input word, based on the determined input behavior.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 14/806,000, filed on Jul. 22, 2015, which has issued as U.S. Pat.No. 10,534,532 on Jan. 14, 2020 and was based on and claimed priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Aug. 8,2014 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serialnumber 10-2014-0102564, and of a Korean patent application filed on Oct.1, 2014 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serialnumber 10-2014-0132721, the entire disclosure of each of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a method forprocessing a letter input in an electronic device.

BACKGROUND

A variety of electronic devices have been developed to support variousfunctions. These electronic devices may be equipped with a display toallow the user to more efficiently enjoy various functions. For example,a smart phone may be equipped with a display (e.g., a touch screen), thefront of which is sensitive to a touch.

In addition, a variety of applications (‘Apps’) may be installed andexecuted in an electronic device. In order to execute and control theapplications on the electronic device, various input means (e.g., atouch screen, a button, a mouse, a keyboard, a sensor, etc.) may beused.

One of the most frequently used functions in the electronic device is aletter input (or text input) function. Using the letter input function,the user may enjoy a messaging service, a social networking service, achat service, a search service, or the like. For example, the electronicdevice may add, to the letter input function, an automaticrecommendation function of modifying typos or recommending a standardword most similar to the input letters (or typed letters). For example,the user may enable or disable the automatic recommendation function inthe setting menu of the electronic device.

As electronic devices are increasingly miniaturized, the size of keysfor a letter input has also been reduced. When the user inputs or typestext with small keys, it may be difficult to accurately input the textbecause the keys are small and the gap between the keys is narrow.

A small electronic device may require a letter input method for allowingthe user to accurately input letters with fewer errors, using smallkeys.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentdisclosure is to provide an electronic device and a method forprocessing a letter input in an electronic device, in which theelectronic device and the method may determine whether to automaticallyreplace input letters with a recommended word and display therecommended word, based on a user's input behavior.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an electronicdevice and a method for processing a letter input in an electronicdevice. The method includes setting an automatic recommendation functiondepending on a user's input behavior, without separately performing anoperation in which the user enables or disables the automaticrecommendation function in a setting menu of the electronic device.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method forprocessing a letter input in an electronic device is provided. Themethod includes, if at least one letter is input, determining at leastone input behavior related to the input and if a predetermined delimiteris input, determining whether to disable a function of automaticallyrecommending at least one word similar to an input word, based on thedetermined input behavior.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anelectronic device is provided. The electronic device includes an inputunit and a controller configured to, if at least one letter is inputthrough the input unit, determine at least one input behavior related tothe input, and determine, if a predetermined delimiter is input, whetherto disable a function of automatically recommending at least one wordsimilar to an input word, based on the determined input behavior.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an example of an operation of recommending aword on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation ofprocessing a word input in an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation ofprocessing a word input in an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate an example of an automatic wordrecommendation function in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a screen provided for a word inputaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a screen provided for a word inputaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a structure of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a screen configuration and anelectronic device to which a letter input method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17A illustrates an example of a letter input method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 17B and 17C are graphs illustrating the results of a letter inputmethod according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18A illustrates an example of a letter input method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 18B and 18C are graphs illustrating the results of a letter inputmethod according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a structure of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functionsand constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure is provided for illustration purposes only and not for thepurpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

The terms “comprise” and/or “comprising” as herein used specify thepresence of disclosed functions, operations, or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other functions,operations, or components. It will be further understood that the terms“comprise” and/or “have,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof.

As used herein, the term “A or B” or “at least one of A and/or B”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items. For examples, “A or B” or “at least one of A or/and B”each may include A, or include B, or include both A and B.

Ordinal numbers as herein used, such as “first”, “second”, etc., maymodify various components of various embodiments, but do not limit thosecomponents. For example, these terms do not limit the order and/orimportance of the components. These terms are only used to distinguishone component from another. For example, a first user device and asecond user device are different user devices from each other. Forexample, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, afirst component may be denoted a second component, and vice versawithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

When a component is “connected to” or “coupled to” another component,the component may be directly connected or coupled to the othercomponent, or other component(s) may intervene there between. Incontrast, when a component is “directly connected to” or “directlycoupled to” another component, no other intervening components mayintervene there between.

The terms as used herein are provided merely to describe someembodiments thereof, but not to limit the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientificterms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments of the presentdisclosure belong. It will be further understood that terms, such asthose defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted ashaving a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context ofthe relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be a device with a letter input function. For example,the electronic device may include at least one of a smart phone, atablet personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an e-bookreader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), an MP3player, a mobile medical device, a camera, or a wearable device (e.g., ahead mounted device (HMD) such as electronic glasses, electronicclothing, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, an E-Appaccessory (or appcessory), electronic tattoo, or a smart watch).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may be a smart home appliance equipped with a letterinput function. The smart home appliance, for example, the electronicdevice, may include at least one of television (TV), a digital videodisc (DVD) player, an audio player, a refrigerator, an air conditioner,a cleaner, an oven, a microwave oven, a washer, an air purifier, aset-top box, a TV box (e.g., Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV™ or GoogleTV™), a game console, an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, acamcorder or an electronic photo frame.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may include at least one of various medical devices(e.g., magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), computed tomography (CT), medical camcorder, medical ultrasonicdevice, etc.), a navigation device, a global positioning system (GPS)receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), a flight data recorder (FDR), anautomotive infotainment device, a marine electronic device (e.g., marinenavigation device, gyro compass, etc.), avionics, a security device, acar head unit, an industrial or household robot, an automatic teller'smachine (ATM) for banks, or point of sales (POS) for shops, each ofwhich includes a letter input function.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may include at least one of a part of the furniture orbuilding/structure, an electronic board, an electronic signaturereceiving device, a projector, or various meters (e.g., meters forwater, electricity, gas or radio waves), each of which includes a letterinput function. The electronic device according to various embodimentsof the present disclosure may be one or a combination of theabove-described various devices. The electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure may also be a flexibledevice. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that the electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is notlimited to the above-described devices.

The electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. As used herein, the term ‘user’ may refer to a person who usesthe electronic device, or a device (e.g., an intelligent electronicdevice) that uses the electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may perform an automatic word recommendation functionof determining whether an input word is a word defined in a dictionaryand automatically changing or modifying the word depending on thedetermination.

As used herein, the letter, which is a unit for representing thelanguage, may include a syllable (consonant or vowel) or an alphabet.

The automatic word recommendation function according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may be activated when a character(e.g., a delimiter such as ‘space’, ‘enter’ and ‘tab’, a number/symbol,or a letter (e.g., a syllable (consonant or vowel) in Korean)constituting another language), which does not belong to a set ofletters supported by the currently set language, is input after at leastone letter is input. In addition, the automatic word recommendationfunction may be activated even when arbitrary letters except forpredetermined letters are input.

The user's input behavior according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be a user's certain behavior that can beidentified in the action that the user makes a touch on a touch keypadand then releases the touch, to input one letter code (or character).For example, the user's input behavior may include short press/longpress (contact time), weak press/strong press (contact pressure), smallarea/large area (contact area), and tap/tap & drag (movement duringcontact). In addition, the user's input behavior may be any behaviorincluding at least one user gesture.

For example, the types of the gestures may include a touch, which is agesture where the user puts his/her finger on the display; a tap, whichis a gesture where the user taps the display with one finger short andlightly; a double tap, which is a gesture where the user taps thedisplay twice quickly; a flick, which is a gesture where the userremoves the finger from the display before stopping the finger movement,in order to scroll or rotate the display quickly; a drag, which is agesture where the user moves or scrolls a display element; a drag anddrop, which is a gesture where the user moves an object while touchingthe object and then removes the finger after stopping the movement; aswipe, which is a gesture where the user moves a finger in thehorizontal or vertical direction by a predetermined distance whileputting the finger on the display; a multi-swipe, which is a gesturewhere the user moves two or three fingers in the horizontal or verticaldirection by a predetermined distance while putting the fingers on thedisplay; a pinch, which is a gesture where the user puts two fingers onthe display and then moves the fingers in different directions; a touchand hold, which is a gesture where the user places a finger on thedisplay until a display element appears; a shake, which is a gesturewhere the user shakes the electronic device to operate the electronicdevice according to the shaking action; and a rotate, which is a gesturewhere the user switches the direction of the display from the horizontaldirection to the vertical direction, or from the vertical direction tothe horizontal direction.

The automatic word recommendation function according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may include an operation ofcomparing input consonants, vowels or other letters with a predefinedword dictionary or language model. For example, the automatic wordrecommendation function may estimate the frequency of use of a worddepending on the result of the comparison, compare arbitrary words interms of the similarity there between, determine a word most similar tothe input word, and automatically recommend the determined word.

A syllable according to various embodiments of the present disclosure isa unit constituting one sound, and may be a unit in which a letter inputaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure is processed.According to various input languages, the unit in which a letter inputis processed may be any unit of letters, such as a letter, a syllableand a word.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a screen 110 provided for a word input in anelectronic device may include a keypad area in which the user may inputletters, and a letter display area in which input letters are displayed.The keypad area may include letter keys by which the user may inputletters, and special keys such as a space key or a backspace key.

For example, the user may input or type the letter keys in order of, forexample, ‘m’, ‘u’, ‘h’, ‘a’, ‘n’. Accordingly, ‘muhan’ may be displayedon the screen 110 according to the input order.

The electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may perform an automatic word recommendation function for theinput ‘muhan’, when a predetermined delimiter (e.g., a space) is inputafter the electronic device detects an input of at least one letter key.For example, the automatic word recommendation function may include afunction of, if an input word is not a word that is registered inadvance in a dictionary, recommending a word most similar to the word,changing or modifying the input word to a recommended word, anddisplaying the recommended word.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theautomatic word recommendation function may be disabled depending on thespeed at which the word is input. For example, if a predetermineddelimiter (e.g., a space) is input after a word is input faster than apredetermined speed, the electronic device may run or enable theautomatic word recommendation function.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the ‘muhan’may be changed or modified to a word ‘human’ that is most similar to the‘muhan’ in a predefined dictionary, and then displayed on the screen110. For example, if a predetermined delimiter (e.g., a space) is inputafter a word is input slower than a predetermined speed, the electronicdevice may disable the automatic word recommendation function. Accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure, the ‘muhan’ may bedisplayed as the input ‘muhan’ intact even though the ‘muhan’ is not aword that is included in a predefined dictionary.

Referring to FIG. 1B, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, upon detecting a long touch of a specific key, theelectronic device may provide a zoom user interface (UI) function ofzooming in the perimeter of the specific key. For example, if the usermakes a long-touch input on a key 121 to input ‘H’, the electronicdevice may display a screen 122 on which the perimeter of the key 121 iszoomed in, and the point 121 a to which the user's input is appliedpresently may be displayed on the zoomed-in screen 122.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, if none ofthe keys (e.g., ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘H’, T and ‘K’) displayed on the zoomed-inscreen 122 correspond to the letter that the user desires to input, theuser may make a long-touch input again on a key corresponding to theletter that the user desires to input, in the keypad area. In this case,the electronic device may switch the zoomed-in screen 122 to a screenthat zooms in the perimeter of the key on which the user made along-touch input again.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, while agesture (e.g., drag) is input through the zoom-in screen 122, if thegesture input is released on a specific key (e.g., ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘H’, T or‘K’), the electronic device display a letter corresponding to the key onwhich the gesture input is released, and stop displaying the zoom-inscreen 122.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as theelectronic device provides the zoom UI, the user may exactly determinethe position of the letter even on the small screen.

Although the zoomed-in screen according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure is provided as an example of the zoom UI, othervarious visual effects such as a speech bubble may be possible.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an example of an operation of recommending aword on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to a screen 210 in FIG. 2A, the electronic device may run theautomatic word recommendation function, as a predetermined delimiter(e.g., a space) is input after wkar 211 is input by the user. Forexample, as the wkar 211 is not a word that is defined in advance in adictionary, the automatic word recommendation function may be performedon the wkar 211. Accordingly, words similar to the wkar 211 may berecommended in order of, for example, ‘else’, ‘wise’, ‘what’, ‘rise’,and ‘wide’.

Referring to a screen 220 in FIG. 2B, though wkar 221 is input, theelectronic device may determine the user's input behavior from at leastone of the letters (consonants or vowels) constituting the wkar 221. Forexample, the user's input behavior may be an operation in which the usermakes a long-touch input on the at least one letter for a predeterminedtime or more.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, ‘w’ 221 a inthe wkar 221 is a letter that the user's input behavior satisfies apredetermined condition (e.g., a long-touch input is made on the letterfor a predetermined time or more), the letter ‘w’ 221 a may beunderlined to be distinguishable from other letters.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may determine the letter ‘w’ 221 a that the user'sinput behavior satisfies a predetermined condition, as a letter that isspecified, on which the automatic word recommendation function is not tobe performed. For example, the electronic device may perform theautomatic word recommendation function only for the words that include‘w’ at the position where the ‘w’ 221 a is input. In other words, theelectronic device may perform the automatic word recommendation functionfor a 4-letter word whose first letter starts with ‘w’. As the automaticword recommendation function is performed for a 4-letter word(s) thatstarts with ‘w’ among the recommended words similar to the input word,words similar to the wkar 221 may be recommended in order of, forexample, ‘wise’, ‘what’, and ‘wide’.

When the automatic word recommendation function is utilized on thetouch-based keypad of the electronic device, as the screen is smaller,the exact input may be more difficult. In this case, a large number ofcandidate words should be provided to allow the user to exactly selecthis/her intended word.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may perform the automatic word recommendation functionfor the remaining letters except for the letter(s) that the user's inputbehavior satisfies a predetermined condition when performing theautomatic word recommendation function, so the number of candidate wordsmay be reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to more easily recommend theword(s) intended by the user.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation ofprocessing a word input in an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, in operation 310, the electronic device may detectan input of one or more letters (consonants or vowels) for a word input,and determine and record a user's input behavior upon the detection ofan input of letters (consonants or vowels). For example, the letters maybe input in units of letters, as the input language is English.

In operation 320, the electronic device may determine whether apredetermined delimiter is input. For example, the predetermineddelimiter may be a letter code or character, which does not belong to aset of letters supported by the currently set language. For example, thedelimiter may be a delimiter such as ‘space’, ‘enter’ and ‘tab’, anumber/symbol, and letters constituting the other languages. If it isdetermined that no delimiter is input, the electronic device may returnto operation 310.

If it is determined that a delimiter is input, the electronic device maydetermine in operation 325 whether to disable an automaticrecommendation function, based on the user's input behavior. Forexample, the electronic device may disable the automatic recommendationfunction, upon determining a user's input behavior (e.g., a long-touchinput is made on one or more letters) corresponding to a predeterminedinput duration or a size of an area where a touch input is made. Forexample, if it is determined in operation 310 that the recorded user'sinput behavior does not satisfy a predetermined condition, theelectronic device may maintain the enabled automatic recommendationfunction or enable the disabled automatic recommendation function inoperation 330.

In operation 330, the electronic device may determine whether theautomatic recommendation function is disabled.

If the automatic recommendation function is disabled, then in operation340, the electronic device may determine to display intact the word thatis input in operation 310.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may determine to display the input word intact, evenif (i) the touch input made in operation 310 is made with an area of apredetermined value or more, (ii) the touch input is detected as apredetermined gesture behavior, (iii) the touch input is held for apredetermined time or more, or (iv) the touch input is made with apressure greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure.

If the automatic recommendation function is enabled, the electronicdevice may generate a set of word candidates most similar to the inputword among the predetermined recommended word candidates, in operation350. For example, it will be assumed that a first word is input inoperation 310, the first word includes a first letter and a secondletter, and a predetermined user's input behavior is determined for thefirst letter and the second letter. A set of word candidates similar tothe first word may include words that include the first letter and thesecond letter in the same position.

In operation 360, the electronic device may replace the input word witha highest-priority candidate word, and display the replaced word.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may further display a word candidate with thenext-highest priority in response to the additional user gesture (e.g.,swipe).

For example, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,a method for processing a letter input in an electronic device mayinclude, if at least one letter is input, determining at least one inputbehavior related to the input; and if a predetermined delimiter isinput, determining whether to disable a function of automaticallyrecommending at least one word similar to an input word, based on thedetermined input behavior.

The method may further include displaying the input word intact, if atleast one predetermined user's input behavior for the at least one wordis determined.

The method may further include determining an input of a first wordincluding a first letter and a second letter, and if a user's inputbehavior for the first letter and the second letter is determined,recommending at least one word among words that include the first letterand the second letter in the same position, as a word similar to thefirst word. The at least one input behavior may include at least one ofa time for which a touch is held for an input, a touch pressure, acontact area, and a behavior of a gesture.

The method may further include displaying the input word intact, if thetouch for an input is held for a predetermined time or longer.

The method may further include displaying the input word intact, if thetouch for an input is made with a pressure greater than or equal to apredetermined value.

The method may further include displaying the input word intact, if thetouch for an input is made with an area greater than or equal to apredetermined value.

The method may further include displaying the input word intact, if apredetermined behavior is detected from the touch for an input.

The method may further include expanding the touched keypad area or aperimeter of the touched keypad area with a predetermined value or more,if a touch in a keypad area is held for a predetermined or more.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation ofprocessing a word input in an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, in operation 410, the electronic device may detectan input of one or more letters (consonants or vowels) for a word input,and determine and record a user's input behavior upon the detection ofan input of letters (consonants or vowels). For example, the letters maybe input in units of letters, as the input language is English.

In operation 420, the electronic device may determine whether apredetermined delimiter is input. If it is determined that no delimiteris input, the electronic device may return to operation 410.

If it is determined that a delimiter is input, the electronic device maydetermine in operation 425 whether to disable an automaticrecommendation function, based on the user's input behavior. Forexample, the electronic device may disable the automatic recommendationfunction, upon determining a user's input behavior (e.g., a long-touchinput is made on one or more letters) corresponding to a predeterminedinput duration or a size of an area where a touch input is made. Forexample, if it is determined in operation 410 that the recorded user'sinput behavior does not satisfy a predetermined condition, theelectronic device may maintain the enabled automatic recommendationfunction or enable the disabled automatic recommendation function inoperation 430.

In operation 430, the electronic device may determine whether theautomatic recommendation function is disabled.

If the automatic recommendation function is disabled, the electronicdevice may determine in operation 440 to display the word that is inputin operation 410 intact.

If the automatic recommendation function is enabled, the electronicdevice may determine in operation 450 whether recommended wordcandidates in a dictionary are required to be adjusted.

For example, if a user's input behavior is determined for at least oneof the input consonant or vowel, the electronic device may adjust thetarget range according to the input behavior with respect to the wordrecommendation target that can be compared with the input word, inoperation 460. For example, if at least one letter including a user'sinput behavior among the input letters is determined, the electronicdevice may exclude the at least one letter whose input behavior isdetermined, from the word recommendation target. The electronic devicemay consider the word including the letter to be excluded from the wordrecommendation target, as a range of the target on which the automaticrecommendation function is to be performed.

On the other hand, if a user's input behavior is not determined for atleast one of the input consonant or vowel, the electronic device mayselect a word recommendation target that can be compared with the inputword, based on the input letters in operation 470.

In operation 480, the electronic device may generate a set of wordcandidates most similar to the input letters among the predeterminedrecommended word candidates.

In operation 490, the electronic device may replace the input word witha highest-priority candidate word, and display the replaced word.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may further display a word candidate with thenext-highest priority in response to the additional user gesture (e.g.,swipe).

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

In the electronic device, the automatic word recommendation function maybe performed, if a delimiter (e.g., a space) 501 is input after a wordis input through an input interface (e.g., a touch keypad).

Referring to FIG. 5A, the user has input ‘gangnam’ 511. Thereafter, ifthe user inputs a predetermined delimiter (e.g., a space 501), theautomatic word recommendation function may be performed, so ‘gangnam’511 may be automatically changed to ‘hangman’ 512. For example, the‘gangnam’ 511 is a proper noun, and if such a word that is notregistered in the dictionary is input, the input word may be changed ormodified to a word that is most similar to the input word and registeredin the dictionary. Accordingly, the user may perform an additionalaction for re-inputting his/her originally intended ‘gangnam’ 511. Forexample, the additional action may include an operation of deleting theautomatically changed word and re-inputting the user intended word, oran operation of disabling the automatic word recommendation function.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may further determine a user's input behavior upondetecting the input of a word.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the electronic device may display ‘gangnam’ 522,maintaining ‘gangnam’ 521 intact, even if the predetermined delimiter(e.g., the space 501) is input, in a case where a long-touch input ismade on at least one consonant or vowel for a predetermined time or moreduring an input of at least one letter (e.g., consonant or vowel)constituting the ‘gangnam’ 521, or in a case where the total input timeof the input word exceeds a predetermined time. In other words, eventhough the electronic device has determined an input of a delimiterafter a word input, the electronic device may disable the automatic wordrecommendation function for the determined word, if the user's inputbehavior satisfies a predetermined condition.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In the electronic device, theautomatic word recommendation function may be performed, if a delimiteris input after a word is input through an input interface (e.g., a touchkeypad).

Referring to FIG. 6A, it will be assumed that the user has input‘ricket’ 611. Thereafter, if the user taps (or inputs) a space 601, theautomatic word recommendation function may be performed, so the ‘ricket’611 may be automatically changed to ‘ticket’ 612. For example, the‘ricket’ 611, which is a word that is not registered in the dictionary,may be changed or modified to ‘ticket’ 612, which is a word that is mostsimilar to the input word and registered in the dictionary.

On the other hand the user might have originally intended to input‘rocket’, and might have wrongly input ‘o’ as ‘i’.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the user maydetermine a user's input behavior (e.g., a long-touch input is made)with respect to ‘r’ 621 a. Thereafter, if a predetermined delimiter(e.g., a space) is input, the electronic device may determine the user'sinput behavior for ‘r’ 621 a, and perform the automatic wordrecommendation function of recommending a word most similar to the‘ricket’ 621 among the words that include the ‘r’ 621 a as a firstletter. For example, the ‘ricket’ 621 may be automatically changed ormodified to ‘rocket’ 622, and then displayed.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an example of an operation of processing aword input on a screen in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the user has input ‘r’. For example, theelectronic device may determine a user's input behavior upon the inputof ‘r’.

For example, it will be assumed that ‘r’ 711 has been touched for 0˜150msec (short touch), ‘r’ 712 has been touched for 150˜500 msec (mediumtouch), and ‘r’ 713 has been touched for 500 msec or more (long touch).The electronic device may determine whether to perform the automaticword recommendation function for a word including the ‘r’ depending onthe time for which the ‘r’ has been touched.

Although the durations corresponding to the short touch, the mediumtouch and the long touch have been exemplified as values correspondingto 0˜150 msec, 150˜500 msec, and 500 msec or more, respectively,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the valuesmay be changed depending on the user's settings or the circumstances atthe time of manufacturing.

Referring to FIG. 7B, the electronic device may change the range of theautomatic word recommendation target or disable the automatic wordrecommendation function depending on the touch duration.

For example, the electronic device may enable the automatic wordrecommendation function for a word (e.g., ricket) 721 including ‘r’ 711corresponding to the short touch.

For example, the electronic device may enable the automatic wordrecommendation function only for the word that includes the ‘r’ 712 as afirst letter, with respect to the word (e.g., ricket) 722 including the‘r’ 712 corresponding to the medium touch.

For example, the electronic device may disable the automatic wordrecommendation function for the word (e.g., ricket) 723 including the‘r’ 713 corresponding to the long touch. In this case, the ‘ricket’ 723including the long-touched ‘r’ 713 may be displayed intact.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate an example of an automatic wordrecommendation function in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8A, the user has input ‘btraf’ 801 through a keypad ofthe electronic device. For example, letters of the ‘btraf’ 801 may bedisplayed, as their associated touches are detected in the positionscorresponding to ‘b’ {circle around (1)}, ‘t’ {circle around (2)}, ‘r’{circle around (3)}, ‘a’ {circle around (4)} and ‘f’ {circle around(5)}.

The electronic device may calculate a gap between each letter and theletter's adjacent letters, and may recommend a word most similar to theinput ‘btraf’ 801 taking into account the frequency of use of the word.For example, in FIG. 8A, ‘bread’, ‘great’ and ‘began’ have beenrecommended as the words most similar to the ‘btraf’ 801.

Referring to (a) in FIG. 8B, the electronic device may compare ‘btraf’801 with ‘bread’. The electronic device may measure a gap between eachof ‘b’ {circle around (1)}, ‘t’ {circle around (2)}, ‘r’ {circle around(3)}, ‘a’ {circle around (4)} and ‘f’ {circle around (5)} and each of‘b’ 811, ‘r’ 812, ‘e’ 813′, ‘a’ 814 and ‘d’ 815.

Referring to (b) in FIG. 8B, the electronic device may compare ‘btraf’801 with ‘great’. The electronic device may measure a gap between eachof ‘b’ {circle around (1)}, ‘t’ {circle around (2)}, ‘r’ {circle around(3)}, ‘a’ {circle around (4)} and ‘f’ {circle around (5)} and each of‘g’ 821, ‘r’ 822, ‘e’ 823, ‘a’ 824′, ‘t’ 825.

Referring to (c) in FIG. 8B, the electronic device may compare ‘btraf’801 with ‘began’. The electronic device may measure a gap between eachof ‘b’ {circle around (1)}, ‘t’ {circle around (2)}, ‘r’ {circle around(3)}, ‘a’ {circle around (4)} and ‘f’ {circle around (5)} and each of‘b’ 831, ‘e’ 832, ‘g’ 833, ‘a’ 834′ and ‘n’ 835.

As a result of the measurement, ‘bread’ may be measured as a word thatis closest to the input ‘btraf’ 801, and highest in the frequency ofuse. Accordingly, the input ‘btraf’ 801 may be automatically changed ormodified to ‘bread’ and displayed depending on the automatic wordrecommendation function.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9A, a space key 911 is adjacent to letter keys in ascreen 910. If the user applies an input to a letter key, the input maybe applied to the space key 911, unlike the user's intention.Accordingly, the automatic word recommendation function may be performedbefore the word input is terminated. In a case where a backspace key 912is adjacent to letter keys as in the arrangement of the backspace key912, even though the user has typed or tapped a letter key to input aletter, an input may be applied to the backspace key 912, so thepreviously input letter may be deleted.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, letter keysand special keys 922 (e.g., a space key or a backspace key) may bearranged separately in the electronic device.

Referring to a screen 920 in FIG. 9B, an area of letter keys and an areaof special keys 922 may be separated, and an empty space 921 may beprovided between the areas. For example, the empty space 921 may beconfigured as a space where an operation related to a letter input isnot performed in response to any input.

For example, as the letter keys and the special keys 922 are separatedby the empty space 921, the user is unlikely to type or input thespecial keys 922 unintentionally.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the electronic device may display anarea of letter keys separately from an area of special keys.

Referring to a screen 1010 in FIG. 10A, an area 1011 of letter keys andan area 1012 of special keys may be separated by the empty space.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the positionor size of the keys in the area 1011 may be set depending on the user'sinput direction.

Referring to a screen 1020 in FIG. 10B, an area 1021 of letter keys andan area 1022 of special keys may be separated by the empty space.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the positionor size of the keys in the area 1021 may be set so as not to waste thehorizontal width of the screen 1020.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, the electronic device may separatelydisplay an area of letter keys and an area of special keys.

Referring to a screen 1110 in FIG. 11A, an area 1111 of letter keys andan area 1112 of special keys may be separated by the empty space.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the area1111 of letter keys may be set under the area 1112 of special keysdepending on the user's convenience.

Referring to a screen 1120 in FIG. 11B, the area 1121 of letter keys andthe area 1122 of special keys may be separated by the empty space.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the area1121 of letter keys may be set under the area 1122 of special keysdepending on the user's convenience. The position or size of the keys inthe area 1121 may be set so as not to waste the horizontal width of thescreen 1120.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a screen provided for a word inputaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 12, a screen 1200 may be set so that an area 1210 ofletter keys and an area 1220 of special keys may be separated.

Although the area 1210 of letter keys and the area 1220 of special keysare illustrated to be adjacent to each other on the screen 1200according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, some of thearea 1220 of special keys 1220 may actually include a void area 1221.

For example, if the void area 1221 in the area 1220 of special keys istouched by the user, the electronic device may ignore the touch, orconsider that a letter key most adjacent to the touched area is input.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a screen provided for a word inputaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 13, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the electronic device may separate an area of letter keysand an area of special keys depending on the input language (e.g.,Korean) in which a word is input, and a screen for a letter input may beprovided so that the area of letter keys may be separated again into anarea of consonant keys and an area of vowel keys.

Referring to a screen 1310, although an area 1311 of letter keys and anarea 1312 of special keys are separated, the area 1311 of letter keysand the area 1312 of special keys are arranged adjacent to each other.Thus, an error may occur during an input between the letter keys and thespecial keys.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, referring toa screen 1320, an empty space may be set between an area 1321 of letterkeys and an area 1322 of special keys.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, referring toa screen 1330, an empty space may be set between an area of letter keysand an area 1332 of special keys. The area of letter keys may beseparated again into an area 1331 a of consonant keys and an area 1331 bof vowel keys, and an empty space may be set between the area 1331 a ofconsonant keys and the area 1331 b of vowel keys.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, referring toa screen 1340, an empty space may be set between an area of letter keysand an area 1342 of special keys. The area of letter keys may beseparated again into an area 1341 a of consonant keys and an area 1341 bof vowel keys, and an empty space may be set between the area 1341 a ofconsonant keys and the area 1341 b of vowel keys.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the area1341 a of consonant keys and the area 1341 b of vowel keys may berearranged so that the vertical width may not be wasted in the areawhere keys are arranged.

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate an example of a screen provided for a wordinput according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 14A and 14B, according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the electronic device may separate an area of letterkeys and an area of special keys depending on the input language (e.g.,Korean) in which a word is input. A screen for a letter input may beprovided so that the area of letter keys may be separated again into anarea of consonant keys and an area of vowel keys.

Referring to a screen 1410 in FIG. 14A, an area 1412 of special keys maybe arranged under an area of letter keys, which includes an area 1441 aof consonant keys and an area 1441 b of vowel keys.

Referring to a screen 1420 in FIG. 14B, an area 1421 a of consonant keysand an area 1421 b of vowel keys may be rearranged so that the verticalwidth may not be wasted in the area where keys are arranged.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a structure of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 15, an electronic device 1500 may include a controller1510, an input unit 1520, a display 1530, and a storage 1540.

The controller 1510 may control the overall operation of the electronicdevice 1500.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 1510 may determine an input behavior for at least one letter,and determine whether to disable an automatic word recommendationfunction depending to the determination results. For example, thecontroller 1510 may perform the above-described operation shown in FIG.3 or 4.

The input unit 1520 may include an interface for receiving a user'sinput.

Although the input unit 1520 and the display 1530 are shown as separatecomponents, the input unit 1520 may be configured by software to beimplemented through the display 1530 according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure. In this case, the input unit 1520 is optional.

The display 1530 may include a touch panel to which a user's input isapplied. The display 1530 may display a letter based on a user gesturethat is detected through the touch panel. The keypad according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure may include keyscorresponding to letters for a letter input with respect to variouslanguages, and special keys such as a space key and a backspace key.

The storage 1540 may store a user's input behavior 1541. According tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure, if a letter is input, auser's input behavior for the letter may be stored in the storage 1540.

For example, an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure may include an input unit; and a controllerconfigured to, if at least one letter is input through the input unit,determine at least one input behavior related to the input, and if apredetermined delimiter is input, determine whether to disable afunction of automatically recommending at least one word similar to aninput word, based on the determined input behavior.

The electronic device may further include a display, and if at least onepredetermined user's input behavior for the at least one word isdetermined, the controller may control the display to display the inputword intact.

The controller may determine an input of a first word including a firstletter and a second letter, and if a user's input behavior for the firstletter and the second letter is determined, the controller may recommendat least one word among words that include the first letter and thesecond letter in the same position, as a word similar to the first word.

The at least one input behavior may include at least one of a time forwhich a touch is held for an input, a touch pressure, a contact area,and a behavior of a gesture.

If the touch for an input is held for a predetermined time or more, thecontroller may control the display to display the input word intact.

If the touch for an input is made with a pressure greater than or equalto a predetermined value, the controller may control the display todisplay the input word intact.

If the touch for an input is made with an area greater than or equal toa predetermined value, the controller may control the display to displaythe input word intact.

If a predetermined behavior is detected from the touch for an input, thecontroller may control the display to display the input word intact.

If a touch in a keypad area is held for a predetermined or more, thecontroller may control the display to expand the touched keypad area ora perimeter of the touched keypad area with a predetermined value ormore.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a screen configuration and anelectronic device to which a letter input method according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 16, a text message creation screen 1601, to which anautomatic word recommendation function can be applied, may include akeypad 1610, which is much smaller in size than a touch keypad used inthe typical electronic device (e.g., a smart phone).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the user mayinput a letter even with one hand using the keypad 1610.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, at least oneword similar to the input word may be automatically recommendeddepending on at least one input behavior related to the input letter.

According to the results of an experiment to which various embodimentsof the present disclosure are applied, in a scheme in which the userinputs letters on the keypad 1610 with one hand, the user may input ortype letters at a speed of 28.2 WPM, which reaches about 78% of thetypical speed of 36.6 WPM at which the user inputs letters using bothhands. For example, the typing speed in each of the above cases for atleast one user is represented in units of words per minute (WPM).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one-handletter input scheme based on the keypad 1610 may reach the typing speedof the typical two-hand letter input scheme. For example, the user mayinput letters even with one hand at a speed that sufficiently reachesthe speed at which the user inputs letters using both hands.

FIG. 17A illustrates an example of a letter input method according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 17A, the assumptions will be made on (i) a case 1701in which the user inputs letters on a smart phone using both hands, (ii)a case 1702 in which the user inputs letters on a smart phone using onehand, and (iii) a case 1703 in which the user inputs letters on anelectronic device (e.g., a smart watch) to which various embodiments ofthe present disclosure can be applied. The results of typing speed (orletter input speed) for each case are described below with reference toFIGS. 17B and 17C.

FIGS. 17B and 17C are graphs illustrating the results of a letter inputmethod according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 17B, the typing speed in each of the above cases forat least one user (e.g., User 1˜User 8) is represented in units of WPM.

As a result, the typing speed of the case 1701 was measured as 36.6 WPMon average, the typing speed of the case 1702 was measured as 28.2 WPMon average, and the typing speed of the case 1703 to which variousembodiments of the present disclosure can be applied was measured as22.2 WPM on average.

In short, the typing speed of the case 1703 to which various embodimentsof the present disclosure can be applied was measured as about 68% ofthe typing speed in the case 1701, and about 78% of the typing speed inthe case 1702.

Referring to FIG. 17C, the typing speed in each of the above cases forat least one user (e.g., User 1˜User 5) is represented in units of keystrokes per minute (KPM).

As a result, the typing speed of the case 1701 was measured as 247 KPMon average, the typing speed of the case 1702 was measured as 144 KPM onaverage, and the typing speed of the case 1703 to which variousembodiments of the present disclosure can be applied was measured as 138KPM on average.

In short, the typing speed of the case 1703 to which various embodimentsof the present disclosure can be applied was measured as about 55% ofthe typing speed in the case 1701, and about 96% of the typing speed inthe case 1702.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the user mayinput letters at the speed sufficiently reaching the typing speed on thesmart phone, even on the smart watch that includes a smaller screen orsmaller keypad than the smart phone.

FIG. 18A illustrates an example of a letter input method according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18A, the assumptions will be made on (i) a case 1801in which the user inputs letters on a keypad that does not include anarea of special keys, (ii) a case 1802 in which the user inputs letterson a keypad on which special keys are arranged under letter keys, and(iii) a case 1803 in which the user inputs letters on a keypad on whicha button for enabling an automatic word recommendation function isarranged adjacent to an area of letter keys, and other special keys arearranged thereover.

For example, the results of typing speed for each of the above caseswill be described below with reference to FIGS. 18B and 18C.

FIGS. 18B and 18C are graphs illustrating the results of a letter inputmethod according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18B, when at least one user (e.g., User 1˜User 5)inputs typical English sentences, the typing speed in each of the abovecases is represented in units of KPM.

As a result, the typing speed of the case 1803 was measured to be higheron average than the typing speed in other cases.

Referring to FIG. 18C, when at least one user (e.g., User 1˜User 6)inputs confusing words or neologisms, the typing speed in the case 1801and the case 1803 is represented in units of KPM.

As a result, the typing speed in the case 1803 was measured to be higheron average than the typing speed in the case 1801.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when theinputs letters on a keypad on which a button for enabling an automaticword recommendation function is arranged adjacent to an area of letterkeys, and other special keys are arranged thereover, like in the case1803, the user may input letters at higher speed, compared with when theuser inputs letters on a keypad of other layouts.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a structure of anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 19, an electronic device 2001 may include one or moreprocessors (e.g., an application processor (AP)) 2010, a communicationmodule 2020, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card 2024, amemory 2030, a sensor module 2040, an input device 2050, a display 2060,an interface 2070, an audio module 2080, a camera module 2091, a powermanagement module 2095, a battery 2096, an indicator 2097, and a motor2098.

The AP 2010 may control a plurality of hardware or software componentsconnected to the AP 2010 by running the operating system or applicationprogram, and may process and compute various data including multimediadata. The AP 2010 may be implemented as, for example, system on chip(SoC). In one embodiment, the AP 2010 may further include a graphicprocessing unit (GPU) (not shown).

The communication module 2020 may perform data transmission andreception in communication between the electronic device 2001 and otherelectronic devices connected to the electronic device 2001 over thenetwork. In one embodiment, the communication module 2020 may include acellular module 2021, a WiFi module 2023, a Bluetooth (BT) module 2025,a GPS module 2027, a near field communication (NFC) module 2028, and aradio frequency (RF) module 2029.

The cellular module 2021 may provide voice call, video call, messagingservice, or Internet service over a communication network (e.g., longterm evolution (LTE), long term evolution advanced (LTE-A), codedivision multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), universal mobiletelecommunication system (UMTS), wireless broadband (WiBro), or globalsystem for mobile communication (GSM)). The cellular module 2021 mayidentify and authenticate an electronic device in a communicationnetwork by using, for example, a SIM (e.g., the SIM card 2024).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cellularmodule 2021 may perform some of the functions that can be provided bythe AP 2010. For example, the cellular module 2021 may perform at leastsome of the multimedia control function.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cellularmodule 2021 may include a communication processor (CP). The cellularmodule 2021 may be implemented as, for example, SoC. Although thecomponents such as the cellular module 2021 (e.g., the CP), the memory2030 or the power management module 2095 are shown in FIG. 19 asseparate components independent of the AP 2010, the AP 2010 may beimplemented to include at least some (e.g., the cellular module 2021) ofthe above-described components according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 2010 or thecellular module 2021 (e.g., the CP) may load, on a volatile memory, acommand or data received from at least one of a non-volatile memory orother components connected thereto, and process the loaded command ordata. The AP 2010 or the cellular module 2021 may store, in anon-volatile memory, the data that is received from or generated by atleast one of other components.

Each of the WiFi module 2023, the BT module 2025, the GPS module 2027 orthe NFC module 2028 may include, for example, a processor for processingthe data that is transmitted or received through the module itself.Although the cellular module 2021, the WiFi module 2023, the BT module2025, the GPS module 2027 and the NFC module 2028 are shown as separateblocks in FIG. 19, at least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellularmodule 2021, the WiFi module 2023, the BT module 2025, the GPS module2027 and the NFC module 2028 may be incorporated into one integratedchip (IC) or IC package

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, atleast some (e.g., a CP corresponding to the cellular module 2021 and aWiFi processor corresponding to the WiFi module 2023) of the processorscorresponding to the cellular module 2021, the WiFi module 2023, the BTmodule 2025, the GPS module 2027 and the NFC module 2028 may beimplemented as one SoC.

The RF module 2029 may transmit and receive data, for example, RFsignals. The RF module 2029, though not shown, may include, for example,a transceiver, a power amplifier module (PAM), a frequency filter, or alow noise amplifier (LNA). The RF module 2029 may further include parts(e.g., conductors or conducting wires) for transmitting and receivingelectromagnetic waves in the free space in wireless communication.Although the cellular module 2021, the WiFi module 2023, the BT module2025, the GPS module 2027 and the NFC module 2028 are shown in FIG. 19to share one RF module 2029 with each other, at least one of thecellular module 2021, the WiFi module 2023, the BT module 2025, the GPSmodule 2027 or the NFC module 2028 may transmit or receive RF signalsthrough a separate RF module according to one embodiment.

The SIM card 2024 may be a card including a SIM, and may be insertedinto a slot formed in a specific position of the electronic device. TheSIM card 2024 may include unique identification information (e.g.,integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information(e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).

The memory 2030 may include an internal memory 2032 or an externalmemory 2034. The internal memory 2032 may include at least one of, forexample, a volatile memory (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM),a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.) or anon-volatile memory (e.g., a one time programmable read only memory(OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable and programmable ROM(EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a maskROM, a flash ROM, a not and (NAND) flash memory, a not or (NOR) flashmemory, etc.).

In one embodiment, the external memory 2034 may be a solid state drive(SSD). The external memory 2034 may further include a flash drive, forexample, compact flash (CF), secure digital (SD), micro-SD, mini-SD,extreme digital (xD) or memory stick. The external memory 2034 may befunctionally connected to the electronic device 2001 through variousinterfaces. In one embodiment, the electronic device 2001 may furtherinclude a storage device (or a storage medium) such as a hard drive.

The sensor module 2040 may measure a physical quantity, or detect anoperating state of the electronic device 2001, and convert the measuredor detected information into an electrical signal. The sensor module2040 may include at least one of, for example, a gesture sensor 2040A, agyro sensor 2040B, a barometer 2040C, a magnetic sensor 2040D, anaccelerometer 2040E, a grip sensor 2040F, a proximity sensor 2040G, acolor sensor (e.g., red-green-blue (RGB) sensor) 2040H, a biometricsensor 20401, a temperature/humidity sensor 2040J, an illuminance sensor2040K, and a ultraviolet (UV) sensor 2040M. Additionally oralternatively, the sensor module 2040 may include, for example, anE-nose sensor (not shown), an electromyography (EMG) sensor (not shown),an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor (not shown), an electrocardiogram(ECG) sensor (not shown), an infrared (IR) sensor (not shown), an irissensor (not shown), or a fingerprint sensor (not shown). The sensormodule 2040 may further include a control circuit for controlling one ormore sensors belonging thereto.

The input device 2050 may include a touch panel 2052, a (digital) pensensor 2054, a key 2056 or an ultrasonic input device 2058. The touchpanel 2052 may recognize a touch input in at least one of, for example,a capacitive scheme, a resistive scheme, an IR scheme, or an ultrasonicscheme. The touch panel 2052 may further include a control circuit. Thetouch panel 2052, if based on the capacitive scheme, may recognize aphysical contact or proximity. The touch panel 2052 may further includea tactile layer. In this case, the touch panel 2052 may provide atactile feedback to the user.

The (digital) pen sensor 2054 may be implemented by using, for example,the same or similar method as/to receiving a user's touch input, or aseparate recognition sheet. The key 2056 may include, for example, aphysical button, an optical key, or a keypad. The ultrasonic inputdevice 2058 is a device that can determine data, through an input toolgenerating an ultrasonic signal, by detecting sound waves with amicrophone (e.g., a microphone 2088) in the electronic device 2001. Theultrasonic input device 2058 may enable wireless recognition. In oneembodiment, the electronic device 2001 may receive a user input from anexternal device (e.g., a computer or a server) connected thereto, usingthe communication module 2020.

The display 2060 may include a panel 2062, a hologram device 2064 or aprojector 2066. The panel 2062 may be, for example, a liquid-crystaldisplay (LCD) panel or an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode(AM-OLED). The panel 2062 may be implemented to be, for example,flexible, transparent or wearable. The panel 2062, together with thetouch panel 2052, may be implemented as one module. The hologram device2064 may display stereoscopic images in the air by using theinterference of light. The projector 2066 may display images byprojecting the light on the screen. The screen, for example, may bedisposed in the inside or outside the electronic device 2001.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the display 2060may further include a control circuit for controlling the panel 2062,the hologram device 2064 or the projector 2066.

The interface 2070 may include, for example, a high-definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI) 2072, a universal serial bus (USB) 2074, anoptical interface 2076, or a D-subminiature (D-sub) 2078. Additionallyor alternatively, the interface 2070 may include, for example, a mobilehigh-definition link (MHL) interface, an SD card/multi-media card (MMC)interface, or an infrared data association (IrDA) interface.

The audio module 2080 may convert the sound and the electrical signalbi-directionally. The audio module 2080 may process the soundinformation that is input or output through, for example, a speaker2082, a receiver 2084, an earphone 2086 or the microphone 2088.

The camera module 2091, which is a device capable of shooting stillimages or videos, may include, for example, one or more image sensors(e.g., a front sensor or a rear sensor), a lens (not shown), an imagesignal processor (ISP) (not shown), or a flash (not shown) (e.g., LED orxenon lamp) according to one embodiment.

The power management module 2095 may manage the power of the electronicdevice 2001. Although not shown, the power management module 2095 mayinclude, for example, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), acharger IC, or a battery or fuel gauge.

The PMIC may be mounted in, for example, an IC or an SoC chip. Acharging scheme may be divided into a wired charging scheme and awireless charging scheme. The charger IC may charge a battery, andprevent the inflow of the overvoltage or overcurrent from the charger.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the charger IC mayinclude a charger IC for at least one of the wired charging scheme andthe wireless charging scheme. The wireless charging scheme may include,for example, a magnetic resonance scheme, a magnetic induction scheme oran electromagnetic scheme, and an additional circuit (e.g., a loop coil,a resonance circuit or a rectifier) for wireless charging may be added.

The battery gauge may measure, for example, the remaining capacity, thecharging voltage, the charging current, or the temperature of thebattery 2096. The battery 2096 may store or generate the electricity,and supply the power to the electronic device 2001 using the stored orgenerated electricity. The battery 2096 may include, for example, arechargeable battery or a solar battery.

The indicator 2097 may indicate a specific state (e.g., a boot state, amessage state, or a charging state) of the electronic device 2001 or apart thereof (e.g., the AP 2010). The motor 2098 may convert anelectrical signal into mechanical vibrations. Although not shown, theelectronic device 2001 may include a processing device (e.g., a GPU) forsupporting Mobile TV. The processing device for supporting Mobile TV mayprocess the media data that is based on the standards such as, forexample, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital videobroadcasting (DVB) or Media Flow.

Each of the above-described components of the electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure may includeone or more parts, and the names of the components may vary depending onthe type of the electronic device. The electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least oneof the above components, some of which may be omitted, or may furtherinclude other additional components. Some of the components of theelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be configured as one entity by being combined, so theentity may perform the previous functions of the components in the sameway.

As used herein, the term ‘module’ may refer to a unit that includes oneof, or a combination of, for example, hardware, software or firmware.The term ‘module’ may be interchangeably used with the terms such as,for example, unit, logic, logical block, component or circuit. Themodule may be the minimum unit of a component that is configured as asingle body, or a part thereof. The module may be the minimum unit thatperforms one or more functions, or a part thereof. The module may beimplemented mechanically or electronically. For example, the module mayinclude at least one of an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC) chip, a field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) chip or aprogrammable-logic device, which have been known, or will be developedin the future, and which may perform any operations.

At least a portion of the device (modules or their functions) or method(operations) according to various embodiments of the present disclosuremay be implemented by, for example, a command that is stored in acomputer-readable storage media in the form of a programming module. Ifthe command is executed by at least one processor (e.g., a controlmodule), the at least one processor may perform a function correspondingto the command. The computer-readable storage media may be furtherincluded, for example, in the electronic device as a memory. At least aportion of the programming module may be implemented (e.g., executed)by, for example, the processor. At least a portion of the programmingmodule may include, for example, a module, a program, a routine, a setof instructions, or a process for performing one or more functions.

The computer-readable storage media may include magnetic media (e.g., ahard disk, a floppy disk and magnetic media), optical media (e.g.,compact disc ROM (CD-ROM) and DVD), magneto-optical media (e.g.,floptical disk)), and a hardware device (e.g., ROM, RAM or flashmemory), which is specifically configured to store and execute a programcommand (e.g., a programming module).

In addition, the program command may include not only the machine codemade by the compiler, but also the high-level language code that can beexecuted by the computer using the interpreter and the like. Thehardware device may be configured to operate as one or more softwaremodules to perform the operations according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and vice versa.

The module or programming module according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may include at least one of the above-describedcomponents, some of which can be omitted, or may further include otheradditional components. The operations performed by the module, theprogramming module or other components according to various embodimentsof the present disclosure may be performed in a sequential, parallel,iterative or heuristic manner. In addition, some operations may beperformed in a different order, or omitted, or other operations may beadded.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in a storagemedium that stores instructions, when the instructions are executed byat least one processor, the instructions may be set to allow the atleast one processor to perform at least one operation. The at least oneoperation may include, if at least one letter is input, determining atleast one input behavior related to the input; and if a predetermineddelimiter is input, determining whether to disable a function ofautomatically recommending at least one word similar to an input word,based on the determined input behavior.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, various embodiments ofthe present disclosure may provide an electronic device and a method forprocessing a letter input in an electronic device, in which the user mayquickly type letters on a small screen with fewer errors.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing a letter input in an electronic device, the method comprising: obtaining an input word including at least one letter; in response to identifying a first manner as a manner of a touch input for the at least one letter, displaying a first recommended word similar to the input word, wherein the at least one letter is changed to a letter in the first recommended word; in response to identifying a second manner as the manner of the touch input, displaying a second recommended word similar to the input word without displaying the first recommended word, wherein the at least one letter is maintained in the second recommended word; and in response to identifying a third manner as the manner of the touch input, displaying the input word including the at least one letter intact, wherein the first manner is identified based on a touch for an input held within a first predetermined time range, wherein the second manner is identified based on a touch for an input held within a second predetermined time range different than the first predetermined time range, and wherein the third manner is identified based on a touch for an input held longer than the second predetermined time range.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the input word, the first recommended word and the second recommended word are different from each other.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining a predetermined delimiter received next to the input word; in response to obtaining the predetermined delimiter, determining whether to disable a function of automatically recommending a word; in response to identifying the first manner or the second manner, enabling the function; and in response to identifying a third manner as the manner of the touch input, disabling the function.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the manner of the touch input includes at least one of a time for which a touch is held for an input, a touch pressure, a contact area, or a behavior of a gesture.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the input word including the at least one letter intact based on a touch for an input being made with a pressure greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the input word including the at least one letter intact based on a touch for an input being made with an area greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: expanding, based on a touch in a keypad area being held for a predetermined time or more, the touched keypad area or a perimeter of the touched keypad area by an amount greater than or equal to a predetermined value or more.
 8. An electronic device comprising: a display; and at least one processor configured to: obtain an input word including at least one letter, in response to identifying a first manner as a manner of a touch input for the at least one letter, control the display to display a first recommended word similar to the input word, wherein the at least one letter is changed to a letter in the first recommended word, in response to identifying a second manner as the manner of the touch input, control the display to display a second recommended word similar to the input word without displaying the first recommended word, wherein the at least one letter is maintained in the second recommended word, and in response to identifying the manner of the touch input as a third manner, control the display to display the an input word including the at least one letter intact, wherein the first manner is identified based on a touch for an input held within a first predetermined time range, wherein the second manner is identified based on a touch for an input held within a second predetermined time range different than the first predetermined time range, and wherein the third manner is identified based on a touch for an input held longer than the second predetermined time range.
 9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the input word, the first recommended word and the second recommended word are different from each other.
 10. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: obtain a predetermined delimiter received next to the input word, in response to obtaining the predetermined delimiter, determine whether to disable a function of automatically recommending a word, in response to identifying the first manner or the second manner, enable the function, and in response to identifying a third manner as the manner of the touch input, disable the function.
 11. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the manner of the touch input includes at least one of a time for which a touch is held for an input, a touch pressure, a contact area, or a behavior of a gesture.
 12. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the display to display the input word including the at least one letter intact based on the touch for an input being made with a pressure greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
 13. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the display to display the input word including the at least one letter intact based on the touch for an input being made with an area greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
 14. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control, based on a touch in a keypad area being held for a predetermined or more, the display to expand the touched keypad area or a perimeter of the touched keypad area with a predetermined value or more.
 15. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the display is further configured to display a keyboard including letter keys and special keys which are separated from at least one of the letter keys by a blank area.
 16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium recording a program for executing a method for processing a letter input by at least one processor in an electronic device, the method comprising: obtaining an input word including at least one letter; in response to identifying a first manner as a manner of a touch input for the at least one letter, displaying a first recommended word similar to the input word, wherein the at least one letter is changed to a letter in the first recommended word; in response to identifying a second manner as the manner of the touch input, displaying a second recommended word similar to the input word without displaying the first recommended word, wherein the at least one letter is maintained in the second recommended word; and in response to identifying the manner of the touch input as a third manner, displaying the an input word including the at least one letter intact, wherein the first manner is identified based on a touch for an input held within a first predetermined time range, wherein the second manner is identified based on a touch for an input held within a second predetermined time range different than the first predetermined time range, and wherein the third manner is identified based on a touch for an input held longer than the second predetermined time range. 